A Lesson on Love

   As I woke up this past Saturday morning I thought Öh Crap!¨ I don´t have anything to write about! As a participant with AIM we are required to write a blog every week and I went into panic mode because I could not think of anything to write about! I felt a sudden pressure to think of something clever, meaningful and profound to write, it is not like God has not been teaching me anything but nothing that I felt like He wanted me to write about.

   So I prayed Saturday morning ¨Lord give me something that you want me to write about, a lesson I need to learn and something you want me to share.¨ As we were on our way to the internet around lunchtime my anxiety rose… I had nothing. ¨Whatever…¨ I thought I will just do a picture blog. We arrived at the internet and after about 20 minutes the internet died in the whole place. I hardly had time to log onto the computer let alone write a blog or get my pictures updated! Everyone was really disappointed and although I was sad not to get to talk to my family I have to admit I was secretly glad that I had 3 more days to put something together. After the internet disaster we got to go to ¨Baby Washing¨ one of our favorite ministries here!

   Baby Washing is a ministry on Saturday afternoons where people who do not have access to showers regularly come and their children get washed and the adults and older children have the opportunity to wash their hair. Afterwards everyone gets an orange and the little girls get their hair and nails done. Let me remind you that the majority of the people who come are homeless and this is their only time of cleaning for the week. It is a great ministry that provides something these people really need. Because these people have limited access to cleaning facilities many have head lice and a variety of other unmet health needs.

   We have participated in this ministry for several weeks and every week I have tried to avoid the whole hair combing and braiding station in order to avoid catching the dreaded head lice. This week I decided to opt for the nail painting station, I justified my prejudice with ¨Well I paint my own nails every week so I am far more qualified to do this than braid these girls hair.¨ As I watched my teammate Tasha pull these little children with dripping wet, licey hair into her lap; carefully brush and braid their hair with such gentleness and love I thought ¨what is wrong with me!¨

   Later on Saturday night as our group was praying God really spoke to me and said ¨Hannah, for a while you have been asking me to teach you to love like I love. Well this is how I love… I pull you, my unclean, unworthy, dirty children into my lap, I brush your hair, love you, cherish you and chose you. I love you so much I even sent my beautiful, clean, perfect Son into your dirty, contaminated world to save you. This is how I love. I don´t love from a distance when it is convenient, easy or clean. I love the dirty, difficult people. I love you.

   Uh. Are you kidding me God. I wanted you to teach me a lesson that was soft and easy, not one that knocks me off of my feet. Here I am in Bolivia to serve God and love His children, and what was I doing being too clean, too good, too scared of getting some bugs in my hair to love? What? God loves me and invites me his unclean little daughter into His presence and into relationship with Him so why am I not loving His children.

   This whole scenario reminded me of 1 John 4:19 ¨We love because He first loved us.¨

   I have been called to love, love God and my neighbor (His children!) So when I want to skip out, opt out or ¨love¨ from a distance I just need to remember how my God loves!